"He would walk with his head down, crying in the car," Shaposhnikov said. "Most parents ask their children, 'How was school today?' My question after school is, 'Did someone call you gay today?' It's just not normal."

Shaposhnikov filed a $100,000 claim against Pacifica School District on Sept. 15, alleging that administrators failed to protect his son against classmates' teasing and anti-gay remarks. Such claims are often precursors to lawsuits.

He said his son, whom he asked not be named, has been the target of physical and verbal abuse since he began sixth grade last year. The taunting resumed when he began seventh grade this fall, but it wasn't as frequent, Shaposhnikov said.

Schoolmates called him "fag," a "gay fashion model," and in one incident threw gum in his hair and kicked him, according to the claim. Shaposhnikov said that his son documented 120 incidents during the last school year, culminating with another student threatening to kill him.

Shaposhnikov figures the dancing has a lot to do with it. Since his son began dancing at 5 years old, he has competed in national and international championships. It keeps him happy and healthy, his parents said, and he has continued to dance despite the teasing.

Shaposhnikov said that by June he was talking with Principal Kitty Mindel on a weekly basis. But, he said, her actions were not aggressive enough to end the daily taunting.

Superintendent Michele Garside said Thursday that administrators had done everything they could to prevent the teasing. They wrote a letter to at least one taunter's parents, suspended one student and removed Shaposhnikov's son from the gym class where much of the teasing happened, she said.

"We can't always prevent (teasing), but we do follow up on it," Garside said. "Children come to school in different ways. They can say things at home that we can't tolerate at school."

The attorney for the Pacifica School District, John Beiers, said officials had responded to Shaposhnikov's complaints "swiftly and took them very seriously."

The school sent letters to every student's parents about sexual harassment in the spring, warning that police could be called, and held school assemblies about name-calling, Beiers said.

Shaposhnikov says it wasn't enough to keep his son from dreading school.

"The teachers couldn't make them stop, but they can be far more proactive to make sure that their behavior is investigated and the children are disciplined," said Robert Desky, an attorney for Shaposhnikov.

In a similar case in 1997, a 12-year-old boy sued the district for not preventing anti-gay name-calling. The school district settled for an undisclosed amount.

Laura Siegel, whose sons attended schools in the district in the 1970s, said they also faced anti-gay taunting.

"They would come home really upset. We didn't report it. We thought it was something we could handle," Siegel said. "But today, it's much more significant. It really hurts the kid. . . . The district claims they are dealing with it, but I hear a lot of parents talking about their kids being teased."

Some current students at Lacy Middle School say teasing is prevalent, but that teachers and administrators deal with it when they find out about it.

"Because we're in middle school, everyone is going to get teased. Everyone gets teased, but he got picked on every day," said Josh Richter, a seventh- grader who knows Shaposhnikov's son. "Teachers don't hear it a lot of the time.